James Cottingham, who finished fourth in the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship standings with teammate Lewis Williamson, will be joined at 2 Seas Motorsport for the 2023 season by four-time British GT champion Jonny Adam in the DK Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Cottingham began his racing career largely in historic racing and first competed in the British GT Championship in 2021. He joined 2 Seas Motorsport in 2022 for a full-season British GT campaign, driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 to two podium finishes, at Donington and Spa, with teammate Williamson.
As one of the most successful GT3 driver-coaches in the British GT Championship, Adam has partnered with four different drivers and three different teams across his title-winning seasons. Adam took his first title in 2015, driving alongside Andrew Howard in the Beechdean AMR Aston Martin before joining Derek Johnston at TF Sport in 2016. The 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro champion joined Flick Haigh at Optimum Motorsport for their 2018 British GT title run before he returned to TF Sport to partner Graham Davidson for the duo’s 2019 GT3 title.
Adam will partner Cottingham for the 2023 British GT season but, due to his Aston Martin commitments, will be unable to compete at Silverstone and the Donington season finale. Cottingham’s co-driver for those rounds will be announced at a later date.
“I’m delighted to be back in British GT for a second run at the championship, and more determined than ever,” said Cottingham. “I had a chance to test other brands over the winter, and I feel the Mercedes-AMG is the best tool for the job. It is also great to be back running with the team at 2 Seas Motorsport, who are a really impressive outfit and share my passion and drive to perform at the highest level, and I am delighted to be partnering with Mr British GT, Jonny Adam.
“We were really unlucky last year with how various weekends played out, but I am feeling confident that the line-up and setup we have put together will give us as good a chance as any to really put it to the best on the grid.
“I’m really proud to have DK Engineering back on the grid as well, and we are running an updated version of our bold pop art livery which was debuted last year. It has already proved highly identifiable with the fans, and it became one of the most featured cars in terms of media coverage over the season.”
Jonny Adam is looking forward to re-joining the British GT grid with James Cottingham for the season which will feature his 100th championship start.
“I can’t wait to be joining James and be back with 2 Seas for their British GT campaign this year,” said Jonny Adam. “The championship looks full of strong entries, but with the performance from James and the team last season, it should put us in a strong position from the off to score great points.
“The goal is to put a championship assault together for James and the team throughout 2023. Oulton Park will be special for me, personally, as it will be my 100th race in the championship, and I am counting down the days. Thank you to Aston Martin Racing for allowing me to do this programme this season.”
2 Seas co-owner Isa Al Khalifa added: “We are delighted to confirm another very strong driver pairing for the season with James and Jonny, and this really does underline our commitment to pushing for the ultimate performance and the best results.
“It is great to welcome James back to the team after such a strong season last year, and he really proved himself to be a contender against much more experienced drivers. We were unable to secure a first race win together, but we are starting in a good position heading into the year, and feeling confident that we can tick that box.
“It is also really exciting to have one of British GT’s most successful drivers back with the team. Jonny has proven himself to be the one to beat over the past few years, taking the title four times and about to take his 100th race start.”
The 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship gets underway at Oulton Park on April 8 & 10 with the pre-season Media Day taking place at Donington on March 14.
